Scribes involved in attack?
From Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 16 —Two of the three journalists present during the attack by militants on the Army Public Relations Office in Badami Bagh cantonment in Srinagar on November 3 last are being kept under watch by the security forces suspecting their involvement in the incident.

According to intelligence sources, the two scribes (whose names are being withheld) were allegedly involved in passing on the sketch of the office area and some other vital information to the militants before they carried out the attack on the PRO office. As many as nine Army personnel, including the Public Relations Officer, Major Purshottam, and two JCOs were killed in the incident. However, the three scribes present on the spot were spared by the militants.

Sources said intelligence agencies had sent a detailed report in this regard to the government seeking advice on further action. Besides, the report has also been sent to the officers conducting the court of inquiry on the incident which had sent shock waves throughout the country.

The incident had also provoked the militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Toiba, to make further statements like they would now be carrying out a similar attack on the Prime Minister’s Office situated at South Bloc in New Delhi. The incident had also attracted tremendous international attention.

Reports said investigations had revealed two of the three journalists present on the premises, when the militants were carrying out the attack were allegedly involved in passing on the sketch of the Badami Bagh cantonment area to the militant outfit. In the detailed sketch which was handed over to the militants, it was specified that they should enter from gate no. 3 as that was the safest.

Besides it was also specified that another route of entry could be from the area where the fencing was not very high. The Badami Bagh Cantonment area has very tall fencing all around it and at only two places it was about eight feet high. The militants had gained entry from these two points to carry out the attack.

Intelligence sources said the security forces had managed to recover the sketch and were now keeping the scribes under a close watch.

Reports also said the investigating officers had also zeroed in on the two scribes as a result of the contradictory statements they had made. While on the day of the attack the scribes had said they were at the gate when the attack started on the second day they said they were inside the building when the attack started.

In the incident, three militants armed with assault rifles entered the open area adjacent to the Public Relations Office, which is located at the periphery of the Badami Bagh cantonment in Srinagar, and fired at the sentries at the entrance gate. Thereafter, they entered the PRO’s office and fired indiscriminately on the occupants inside the office. The quick reaction teams of the Army immediately reached the spot and surrounded the area. In the ensuing operations, two militants were killed and their AK-47 rifles were seized.